Particular, Not Pretentious

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Rhum Martinez(ish)

We continue an exploration of rhum, this time with a twist on the classic Martinez. For starters, we swap the gin for rhum, then rebuild the cocktail’s framework around the new base spirit. Recall that the Martinez is gin, sweet vermouth, maraschino liquor, and orange bitters. (For a quick refresher course on the Martinez, check out this previous post.) This simple play on the classic recipe is meant to showcase the funky vegetal notes found in the rhum.

Breaking the cocktail down into its individual ingredients we have Rhum Barbancourt, Cynar, Bauchant, and bitters. For this cocktail Blake chose the 8 year Rhum Barbancourt. Rhum Barbancourt is a Haitian rhum made from fresh-pressed sugar cane like rhum agricole, but cannot be called such since it’s not produced in Martinique. Cynar is an Italian amaro created by infusing 13 herbs and plants, namely artichoke leaves. The name Cynar comes from the botanical name of the artichoke, Cynar scolymus. Bauchant is an orange liqueur that uses cognac as the base spirit and derives its flavor from 3 varietals of oranges – Andalusian, Mandarin, and Tangerine. It has a balance of sweetness and orange flavor without tasting like orange slice candy.

As I continue to expand my rum palate, this cocktail was a great addition not only because it introduced me to a new rum, but also to Bauchant as an alternative to Cointreau. You never know what you might learn when you simply ask. In conclusion, I’ll leave you with a related quote I came across this week and have been pondering.

“Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of him.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Cheers.

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